On the other hand he was making money.

He had fifty pounds in the Savings Bank, the maximum of petty thrift which an incomprehensive British Government encourages, and a fair, though unknown, sum in an iron money-box hidden behind his washstand.

Up to now he had had no time to learn how to spend money.
When he took to smoking cigarettes, which he had done quite recently, he regarded himself as a man.
Higgins's "How beastly!" rang in his head.

Although he could not quite understand the full meaning of the brutal judgment, it brought him disquiet and discontent.

For one thing, like the high-road, his profession led nowhither.